Renovating

Couple offers wedding gift to help sell home

The Klug family, Rebecca, four-year-old Taygan and dad Dean, stand in front of their New Brighton home.

Photograph by: Ted Rhodes
, Calgary Herald

Selling a home in Calgary these days is a very competitive enterprise as demand in the housing market keeps rising.

Any edge besides price point can be an attention-grabber leading to a possible sale.

Rebecca and Dean Klug have come up with a novel idea in the hopes of selling their New Brighton home which is listed for $409,900.

"Paying It Forward! This home is the owners 1st matrimonial home & they want to offer a $5k gift toward the wedding of the buyers of this home to keep the good karma going!," says the listing by realtor Robyn Moser & Associates.

"We wanted to do something that was different than some of the other houses that are for sale," said Rebecca Klug. "We've had tons and tons of showings. Lot of people have come to see the house. I don't know for sure if it's only the pay it forward that's drawing the attention but there's been a lot of interest.

"We had the idea right from the beginning. Maybe it will give us a little bit of an edge and it does have a feel good ring to it."

The house has been listed since mid-April.

According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, active MLS listings in Calgary on May 1 were at their lowest level since 2007. There were 5,345 active listings on May 1. Active listings for May 1, 2011 were 6,400. They were 7,431 for May 1, 2010; 6,173 for May 1, 2009; 10,095 for May 1, 2008; and 3,779 for May 1, 2007.

This year's listings come after a very strong month of sales in April where activity was up more than 30 per cent from the previous year, leading the country in year-over-year growth.

Moser, with MaxWell South Star Realty, had two clients last fall who also offered unique incentives to sell their homes - one in Hidden Valley and the other in Coventry Hills.

Sellers of those homes offered to leave behind $1,000 in beer to the buyers of their properties.

Moser said both beer houses sold very quickly but neither buyer kept the beer as part of the transaction.

"I don't think you will see more incentives like this popping up," said Moser of the wedding gift incentive. "This one was initially brought on because of the timing of the wedding season and this couple really liked the idea of paying it forward since the home had given them such good marital luck. This is more about good karma than it is about trying to entice a buyer in poor market conditions."

In a news release about April MLS sales, CREB said the single-family market continues to tighten, with months of supply dropping below three months.

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